w. so let's have a discussion on what really you should anticipate here in terms of when the government will be back up and running again and what about the potential for default. amy stoddard is the associate editor of the hill.com, and ron brownstein is cnn's senior political analyst for the national journal. welcome to both of you all. you're with me at the top of the hour. i'm sure you were watching, and especially i think to dana bash's point, the fact, ron brownstein, that we heard mitch mckhan al emcconnell echoing wh harry reid said, this optimism, this deal by the end of the week. is that a good sign? >> absolutely. the t when the alternative is unthinkable, they try to find the other route. it will still come up to the question whether anything acceptable to the president will get through the house, and that will be the difficult question, but there's no doubt this is a more optimistic turn of event. >> amy stoddard, you cover capitol hill, you cover congress. when we talk abou